Coating device comprising a conveying device

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for a vacuum coating of substrates is provided. The apparatus for vacuum coating of substrates includes a conveyor device, at least one coating station having a plurality of coating places, which is conveyed on the conveyor device, an evacuation device, as well as a device for rotating the coating places on the conveyor device.

The invention deals in general terms with the coating of substrates, andrelates in particular to an apparatus and a process for the depositionof functional layers by means of an apparatus having a conveyor devicefor the substrates that are to be coated.

To improve the barrier actions in particular of plastic containers, suchas for example plastic bottles, these containers can be provided withbarrier layers. Plastic containers, such as for example plastic bottlesoften have a barrier action to gases which is insufficient for theintended use. By way of example, it is possible for gases, such ascarbon dioxide, to diffuse out of plastic bottles or into them. Thiseffect is generally undesirable in particular when storing foodstuffs,since this effect can shorten the shelf life of foodstuffs stored inthese containers. Barrier coatings can reduce the diffusion through thecontainer walls by orders of magnitude.

Various vapor deposition techniques, such as physical or chemical vapordeposition, have proven particularly suitable for the application ofbarrier coatings and other functional layers. With these techniques, itis possible, inter alia, to produce very dense inorganic layers whichare securely bonded to the surface of the work piece and have a goodbarrier action.

However, these processes are relatively complex, since the substratesthat are to be coated for this purpose have to be placed under a vacuumand then discharged again after coating has been completed. Inparticular for coatings on an industrial scale, this requires a machinewith a correspondingly high power. By way of example, rotary or linearapparatuses, in which substrates are supplied, coated and removed againcontinuously, are suitable for this purpose. Problems arise in thisrespect inter alia if the layers to be deposited require long coatingtimes. By way of example, certain coatings may require coating timesalone of longer than 20 seconds. In such cases, a continuously runningrotary apparatus can no longer be operated economically, since it eitherhas to move at a correspondingly slow speed or its size has to bematched to the process times, which requires very large andcorrespondingly expensive machines.

Therefore, the invention is based on the object of making the vacuumcoating of substrates or work pieces more economical.

This object is achieved, in a surprisingly simple way, by an apparatusfor the coating of substrates as claimed in claim 1 and a process forthe coating of substrates as claimed in claim 23. Advantageousrefinements form the subject matter of the corresponding subclaims.

Accordingly, the invention provides an apparatus for the vacuum coatingof substrates, which comprises

-   -   a conveyor device,    -   at least one coating station or plasma station having a        plurality of coating places, which is conveyed on the conveyor        device, and    -   an evacuation device. Moreover, the apparatus has a device for        rotating the coating places of the coating station on the        conveyor device.

The process according to the invention, for the vacuum coating ofsubstrates, which can be carried out in particular by means of anapparatus according to the invention, comprises the steps of

-   -   loading a coating station with a plurality of substrates that        are to be coated,    -   evacuating the coating or plasma station,    -   conveying the coating station on a conveyor device,    -   vacuum coating the substrates,    -   venting the coating station, and    -   removing the coated substrates, in which process the coating        places of the coating station are rotated on the conveyor        device.

For the apparatus according to the invention and the process for vacuumcoating, a suitable conveyor device is, for example, a conveyor carouselor a linear conveyor device, or a rectilinear conveyor. In theembodiment of the invention with a conveyor carousel, the axis ofrotation of the coating places is preferably parallel to the axis ofrotation of the conveyor carousel or plasma wheel.

The coating operation is carried out for a plurality of substratessimultaneously by means of a coating station having a plurality ofcoating places. As a result, for a given process duration, thethroughput can be increased by a factor corresponding to the number ofcoating places compared to an apparatus having individual coatingplaces. However, this gives rise to the problem of accessibility to allthe coating places. According to the invention, this problem is solvedby the coating places being rotated, so that each coating place can bemade accessible from one position.

In the process according to the invention, the coating places are notnecessarily rotated throughout the entire process sequence. Rather, thisrotation may preferably take place during a process step in which thecoating places are to be made accessible. According to a preferredembodiment of the invention, a rotation is carried out in particularduring the loading operation. According to a preferred embodiment of theinvention, for this purpose the coating places are rotated, by means ofa suitably designed device for rotation of the coating places, in orderto be loaded with substrates, in such a way that the coating places aresuccessively moved into a loading position. This can be carried out bothfor each coating place individually or for a combination of coatingplaces in groups.

The removal of the coated substrates can be facilitated in the same wayif the coating places are rotated during the removal operation. For thispurpose, the coating station can be rotated by means of a suitablydesigned device for rotating the coating places in order for substratesto be removed from the coating places, so that the coating places aresuccessively moved into a removal position.

It is not absolutely imperative that the entire coating station berotated in order to rotate the coating places on the conveyor device.Rather, the coating station may advantageously also be equipped with arotatable substrate carrier. For example, the coating station may bearranged in a fixed position on the conveyor device, with the substratecarrier then being rotated in order to rotate the coating places.

Moreover, according to a refinement of this embodiment, the substratecarrier has through-passages which connect a side of the carrier facingthe coating places to an opposite side of the carrier. Moreover, thecoating station may comprise a base plate with supply passages, whichcan be brought together with the substrate carrier in order to produce aconnection to the evacuation device and/or to supply process gas. By wayof example, the supply passages in the base plate can be connected tothe through-passages in the substrate carrier. The supply passages inthis case preferably serve to evacuate and supply process gas or as acutout for a gas lance, for example, to be introduced into.

In an advantageous refinement of the apparatus according to theinvention, the latter also comprises a suitable loading device and/orremoval device for loading and removing the substrates. Both the loadingof the coating station using the loading device and the removal usingthe removal device can be effected in a simple way by means of at leastone allocation wheel.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, thevacuum coating comprises plasma coating or plasma-enhanced chemicalvapor deposition (PECVD) on the substrates. Accordingly, in thisembodiment of the invention, the apparatus for the vacuum coating ofsubstrates comprises a device for the plasma coating of the substrates.The plasma coating device may advantageously also comprise a device forintroducing process gas.

The plasma coating of substrates is particularly suitable, by way ofexample, for also coating nonplanar or significantly convex surfaces ofsubstrates without shadowing or incidence angle effects occurring. Forplasma coating, a plasma is ignited in a gas which shrouds the surfaceto be coated. Then, a layer is deposited on the surface from thereaction products which form in the plasma. This process can be used toproduce a very wide range of layer compositions by suitable selection ofthe composition of the process gas.

In this context, it is preferable for the plasma to be generated by theaction of electromagnetic waves, in particular of microwaves on theprocess gas. For this purpose, the device for plasma coating comprises adevice for generating electromagnetic waves, in particular forgenerating microwaves. These waves are fed to the coating places, wherea plasma is formed as a result of interaction with process gas of asuitable density which is present.

Moreover, a preferred variant of this embodiment of the inventionprovides for the electromagnetic waves to be pulsed. This form of CVDcoating is also known as plasma impulse chemical vapor deposition orPICVD. Coating by means of a pulsed plasma is advantageous, inter alia,because it reduces the thermal load on the substrates in accordance withthe duty factor. Even very temperature-sensitive substrates, such as forexample plastic bottles, can be plasma-coated in this way. A furtheradvantage of this variant of the plasma coating is that successfulexchange of the process gas is possible in the pulse spaces. This avoidsan increase in the levels of undesired reaction products which form inthe plasma.

To achieve a high throughput through the apparatus according to theinvention and to maintain short process times in the apparatus,moreover, it is advantageous for the coating station to be evacuated asquickly as possible. For this purpose, it has proven advantageous forthe evacuation to be carried out in a number of stages. Therefore, theevacuation device may advantageously comprise a plurality of pumpstages.

Furthermore, it is advantageous if the evacuation device also comprisesa device for sequentially connecting the coating station to a pluralityof pump stages in order to achieve rapid evacuation. By way of example,the pump stages can each operate in a defined pressure range. Inparticular, it is in this way possible for a plurality of coatingstations to be evacuated simultaneously, with each of these coatingstations being connected to one pump stage. In particular, in thisrespect, the apparatus according to the invention may particularlyadvantageously have a vacuum system as described in the Germanapplication bearing application number 102 53 512.4, the content ofdisclosure of which in this respect is hereby incorporated in itsentirety in the subject matter of the present invention.

Furthermore, it is possible to use pumps of the same type and forcoating stations which follow one another in the direction of movementto be alternately connected to the respective pumps.

A preferred embodiment of the invention provides for the coating ofsubstrates which are in the form of hollow bodies, such as for examplesbottles, spherical caps or ampoules. For this purpose, the coatingplaces may have suitable receptacles for such substrates in the form ofhollow bodies. These receptacles may preferably also be designed in sucha way as to seal off the interior of the substrates from the environmentsurrounding the substrates. It is then possible, for example, for theinterior of the substrates in the form of hollow bodies to be evacuatedseparately using a suitable device. This is advantageous, inter alia, ifonly internal or external coating of the substrates is to be performed.If, for example, internal coating is performed, it is sufficient for theouter region to be evacuated only to a sufficient extent for thesubstrate to withstand the pressure difference between inner and outerregions.

For many applications, in particular internal coating of substrates inthe form of hollow bodies is expedient. By way of example, for thebarrier action it is considerably better if there is a barrier coatingon the inner side of the substrates. To perform internal coating, aseparate supply of process gas into the interior of the substrates bymeans of a suitable device is advantageous. This device may, forexample, comprise a gas lance which is introduced into the interior,where it ensures good and rapid distribution of the process gas. Whenthe interior has been filled with process gas, it is possible to ignitea plasma in the interior of the substrates by introducingelectromagnetic waves into the coating station, resulting in internalcoating of the substrates.

According to a further advantageous refinement of the apparatusaccording to the invention, the at least one coating station having aplurality of coating places has a reactor with a moveable sleeve part ora moveable chamber wall and a substrate carrier or chamber base, with atleast one sealed coating chamber or plasma chamber being defined betweensleeve part and substrate carrier in the position in which they buttagainst one another. The moveable configuration of the sleeve part meansthat the coating place is very accessible in the open position of thecoating station, since the substrates do not have to be introduced intothe sleeve part, but rather the latter is fitted over the substrateswhen the coating station is closed. A coating station designed in thisway is also described in the German application bearing applicationnumber 102 53 512.2, the content of disclosure of which in this respectis also incorporated in its entirety in the subject matter of thepresent invention.

In an advantageous refinement of the invention, the opening and closingof the coating station can be effected by a suitable hydraulic,pneumatic or electrical device. Another simple option consists in theopening and closing being produced by the coating station being guidedpast at least one mechanical control cam.

In addition to the preferred option of plasma coating, it is alsopossible for other coating processes, such as for example PVD coating,to be implemented by means of a corresponding device in the apparatusaccording to the invention. PVD coating is advantageous, inter alia, ifelectrically conductive layers are to be deposited.

The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of specificembodiments and with reference to the appended drawings, in whichidentical reference symbols denote identical or similar parts. In thedrawings:

FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic plan view of an embodiment of an apparatusaccording to the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a section through an embodiment of a coating station, and

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view through an embodiment of a coatingstation with control of the opening and closing operation by means ofmechanical control cams.

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of an apparatus according to theinvention for the vacuum coating of substrates, which is denoted overallby reference numeral 1.

The apparatus 1 comprises a conveyor device with a conveyor carousel 3which rotates about an axis of rotation 5.

A multiplicity of coating stations 71, 72, 73, 74, . . . , 7N arearranged on the conveyor carousel 3 and are conveyed by means of theconveyor device.

Moreover, the coating stations, 71, 72, 73, 74, . . . , 7N each have aplurality of coating places; in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, byway of example, each coating station has four coating places 91, 92, 93,94. The coating places of a coating station can be rotated with respectto the conveyor device by means of a device for rotating the coatingplaces, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1. In this embodiment of theinvention, furthermore, the axis of rotation of the coating places ofthe coating stations is parallel to the axis of rotation 5 of theconveyor carousel.

The coating process is carried out while the conveyor carousel 3 isrotating. The various process steps can be assigned to specific circlesectors which the coating places 91, 92, 93, 94 of the coating stations71, 72, . . . , 7N conveyed by the carousel 3 pass through as thecarousel rotates. First of all, the coating places of the coatingstations are loaded in a first circle sector 12. This is done by meansof a loading device with two allocation wheels or loading wheels 24 and26. To load the coating places 91-94, the latter are moved successively,by rotation on the conveyor device, into a loading position, in whichthe coating places to be loaded face outward. In this embodiment of theinvention, in particular, the coating places are successively moved intoa loading position in two groups of in each case two coating places andare then jointly loaded by an allocation wheel 24 or 26.

Then, once the loading of the coating places is complete, the coatingstations are conveyed through an evacuation sector 14, where the coatingstations are evacuated, preferably in a plurality of stages. For thispurpose, a plurality of pumps stages which operate in different pressureranges are successively connected to the coating stations 71, 72, 7N.

The coating stations then pass through a coating sector 16. The vacuumcoating is carried out as they pass through this sector. In thiscontext, it is preferable to carry out a plasma coating, with a processgas being supplied and electromagnetic waves being radiated into theregions which have been filled with the process gas, in order togenerate a plasma. The coating is particularly preferably carried outusing a pulsed plasma or pulsed electromagnetic waves, in order toreduce the thermal load on the substrates and to improve the exchange ofprocess gas in the pulse spaces.

After coating has been completed, the coating stations are vented asthey pass through a venting sector 18 and opened. Then, the coatedsubstrates 11 are removed during passage through a removal sector 20, bymeans of a removal device with allocation wheels or removal wheels 28,30. The removal of the substrates 11 from the coating places 91 to 94 iscarried out in a similar way to the loading operation. In this case too,two groups of coating places are successively moved into a removalposition facing outward on the conveyor carousel, and in each case twosubstrates from a group of two coating places are removed by anallocation wheel 28 or 30. The movement into the removal position islikewise effected through rotation of the coating places with respect tothe conveyor device or the conveyor carousel 3.

In this embodiment of the invention, it is easy to realize a continuouscirculation of the coating stations 71-7N on the conveyor device, sincethe loading and removal are in each case carried out by means of aplurality of allocation wheels past which the coating stations areguided. Of course, however, discontinuous operation is also possible, inwhich case circulation of the conveyor carousel 3 takes place in steps.

FIG. 2 shows a section through an embodiment of a coating station, whichis denoted overall by 7. The coating station 7 comprises a reactorhaving a moveable sleeve part 34 and a base plate or carrier plate 32.Moreover, the coating station has a device for rotating the coatingplaces on the conveyor device with a substrate or work piece carrier 38,and a device for generating electromagnetic waves 36.

Two sealed coating chambers 40, 41 each having a coating place 91 or 92,respectively, for a substrate that is to be coated and into whichelectromagnetic energy is introduced to ignite the plasma for thecoating, are formed between the sleeve part 34 and the base plate 32when the latter butt against one another, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

Accordingly, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, it is possible for twosubstrates 11 to be treated simultaneously. Separating the chambersprevents the plasmas from influencing one another during the coatingoperation.

The coating chambers 40, 41 of the coating station 7 are sealed off fromthe environment by seals 45 which are arranged between sleeve part 34and substrate carrier 38.

To coat substrates 11, the latter are arranged on the substrate carrier38, then the sleeve part 34 is brought together with the substratecarrier 38 by movement of the sleeve part 34, so that in the position inwhich the two parts butt against one another, sealed coating chambers40, 41 are defined between sleeve part 34 and substrate carrier 38, andthe substrates 11 are located in these coating chambers 40, 41, whichare evacuated, then process gas is introduced, and finally a plasma isgenerated by the introduction of electromagnetic energy, so that a CVDcoating is formed on those surfaces of the work pieces which adjoin theplasma.

In this embodiment, the device 36 for generating electromagnetic wavescomprises two microwave heads or microwave generators 361 and 362, anadaptor in the form of a rectangular wave guide 363 and two supplyconductors or coupling passages 364 and 365, which branch off from thiswave guide and in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 are designed ascoaxial conductors. The microwave heads preferably generate microwavesat the frequency of 2.45 GHz, which is licensed for use fortelecommunications.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, to open and close the coatingchambers, 40, 41, the sleeve part 34 is moved substantiallyperpendicular to the base plate 32, in the direction denoted by A. Thedirection A runs along the supply conductors 364 and 365, so that thesleeve part 34 can be moved along the supply conductors. The conductorssimultaneously serve as a guide for the sleeve part 34. Accordingly, toopen and close the coating chambers 40, 41, the sleeve part 34 is movedwhile the substrate carrier 38 is held in place.

Furthermore, the sleeve part 34 has openings 341 and 342, in which thesupply conductors 364 and 365 of the device for generatingelectromagnetic waves engage. Moreover, the supply conductors 364, 365are provided with dielectric windows 366, 367, such as for examplequartz glass windows for introducing the microwaves into thelow-pressure or vacuum region of the reactor 18.

The coaxial conductors or supply conductors 364, 365 are also providedwith sealing collars, so that when the coating chambers 40, 41 are beingclosed by movement of the sleeve part, seals 46, 48 between the sealingcollars and the sleeve part 34 are compressed, thereby creating avacuum-tight sealing of the openings 341, 342.

The embodiment of a coating station 7 which is shown in FIG. 2 isspecifically designed for the coating of substrates 11 which are in theform of hollow bodies, such as for example the plastic bottlesillustrated by way of example in FIG. 2.

For this purpose, the substrate carrier 38 has receptacles for thebottle necks with seals which close off the interior of the substrates11 in the form of hollow bodies in a vacuum-tight manner with respect tothe environment. This allows different pressures to be establishedinside and outside the substrate, for example in order to be able toproduce purely an internal coating or also purely an external coating orto be able to produce different coatings in the interior and on theouter surface of the substrates 11.

Through-passages 50, 51, 52 and 53, which connect that side of thesubstrate carrier which faces the coating places 91, 92 to the oppositeside of the substrate carrier 38, are present in the substrate carrier38 for evacuation and for supplying process gas. The base plate 32 isbrought together with the substrate carrier 38 in order for process gasto be supplied and in order to produce a connection to the evacuationdevice. Moreover, for this purpose the base plate 32 has supply orcoupling passages 54, 55, 56, 57. The through-passages 50 to 54 and thesupply passages 54 to 57 are arranged in such a way that the supplypassages and through-passages which are in each case assigned to oneanother are brought into alignment with and connected to one anotherwhen the base plate 32 is brought together with the substrate carrier38. Inter alia, this creates a connection to the evacuation device, sothat the coating chambers can be evacuated and process gas can besupplied. In this case, the through-passages 50 to 53 are each assignedto a supply passage 54 to 57. In detail, the supply passages 54 and 56serve to supply vacuum to the environment surrounding the substrates 11in the coating chambers 40, 41, and the supply passages 55 and 57 serveto evacuate the interiors of the substrates 11, which have been sealedoff with respect to the environment. Moreover, the supply passages 55,57 and their associated through-passages 51, 53 also serve asthrough-passages through which gas lances 58, 60 for feeding process gasinto the interiors of the substrates 11 can be introduced. The gaslances 58, 60 are secured to a further carrier plate 62 with seals 63,which is brought together with the base plate 32 after the coatingchambers have been closed, so that the gas lances project into theinteriors of the substrates and the seals 63 seal off thethrough-passages for the gas lances with respect to the outside.

To allow the pressure required for coating to be reached quickly in thecoating chambers 40, 41, a multistage evacuation device having aplurality of pump stages 65, 67, 69 is provided. Furthermore, theevacuation device comprises a device for sequentially connecting the atleast one coating station to the plurality of pump stages 65, 67, 69. Inthis case, valves 80, to which the pump stage provided can besuccessively connected, serve as the sequential connection device. Thevalves 82, 83 serve to vent the coating chambers and/or as chamber bleedvalves. A bypass line, which connects the supply passages, 54, 56 forevacuating the environment surrounding the substrates to the supplypassages 55, 57 for evacuating the interiors of the substrates 11, canbe connected or disconnected by means of the valve 81. Accordingly, thevalve 81 serves as a chamber vacuum valve. Therefore, the interior ofthe substrates 11 can be separately connected to the pump stages as aresult of the valve 81 being closed, so that the valve 81 serves as adevice for separate evacuation of the interior of the substrates 11 inthe form of hollow bodies.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view through an embodiment of a coatingstation with control of the opening and closing operation by mechanicalcontrol cams. The coating station 7 otherwise substantially correspondsto the embodiment illustrated with reference to FIG. 2. Moreover, thecoating station 7 is illustrated in the open state, in order toillustrate the loading or removal operation.

The substrate carrier 38 can be rotated about an axis of rotation 39 bymeans of a device for rotating the coating places 91 to 94, of whichcoating places 91 and 92 can be seen in FIG. 3. During the loadingoperation, the substrate carrier 38 with the coating places 91 to 94 isrotated, so that the coating places are accessible from a loadingposition and the substrates 11 are inserted into the receptacles of thesubstrate carrier 38. After the insertion of the substrates has ended,the substrate carrier 38 is positioned in such a way that itsthrough-passages are aligned with the supply passages in the base plate,and the sleeve part 34 is brought together with the substrate carrier38, so as to define sealed coating chambers which can be evacuated viathe supply passages in the base plate 32. Then, the gas lances 58, 60are introduced into the interiors of the substrates 11. In thisembodiment of the coating station, both the movement of the sleeve partand the introduction of the gas lances are imparted by mechanicalcontrol cams 85 and 86 which are arranged in a fixed position at theapparatus. For this purpose, guide arms 90 and 92 with guide rolls 88,which engage around the control cams 85, 86, are arranged on the sleevepart 34 and on the carrier plate 62. If the coating station 7 is movedon the conveyor device, the guide arms 90, 92 follow the path of themechanical control cams, the cross-sectional position of which changesin the direction of the arrows A, B illustrated in FIG. 3, so that amovement of the sleeve part 34 in the direction of arrow A and amovement of the carrier plate 62 in the direction of arrow B areimparted.

List of Reference Symbols

-   1 Apparatus for the vacuum coating of substrates-   3 Conveyor carousel-   5 Axis of rotation of 3-   7, 71, 72, 73, 74, . . . , 7N Coating stations-   91, 92, 93, 94, Coating places-   . . . .-   11 Substrate-   12 Loading sector-   14 Evacuation sector-   16 Coating sector-   18 Venting sector-   20 Removal sector-   24, 26, 28, 30 Allocation wheels-   32 Base plate-   34 Moveable sleeve part-   341, 342 Openings in 34-   36 Device for generating electromagnetic waves-   361, 362 Microwave head of 36-   363 Rectangular wave guide of 36-   364, 365 Supply conductors of 36-   366, 367 Dielectric windows-   38 Substrate carrier-   39 Axis of rotation of 38-   40, 41 Coating chambers-   45, 46, 48 Seals-   50, 51, 52, 53 Through-passages in 38-   54, 55, 56, 57 Supply passages in 32-   62 Carrier plate-   63 Seals of 62-   65, 67, 69 Pump stages-   80, 81, 83 Valves-   85, 86 Mechanical control cam-   88 Guide rolls-   90, 92 Guide arm

1. An apparatus for the vacuum coating of a plurality of substrates,comprising: a conveyor device; at least one coating station having aplurality of coating places, wherein the at least one coating station isconveyed on the conveyor device; an evacuation device; and a device forrotating the plurality of coating places on the conveyor device.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the conveyor device comprises a conveyorcarousel or a linear conveyor device.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the conveyor device is a conveyor carousel having an axis ofrotation, wherein the plurality of coating places each have an axis ofrotation parallel to the axis of rotation the conveyor carousel.
 4. Theapparatus claim 1, wherein the at least one coating station comprises arotatable substrate carrier.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein therotatable substrate carrier has through-passages that connect a side ofthe rotatable substrate carrier facing the plurality of coating placesto an opposite side of the rotatable substrate carrier.
 6. The apparatusas of claim 4, wherein the at least one coating station comprises a baseplate with a plurality of supply passages, the plurality of supplypassages being connectable with the rotatable substrate carrier toproduce a connection to the evacuation device or to supply a processgas.
 7. The apparatus claim 1, further comprising a loading device withat least one allocation wheel.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising a removal device with at least one allocation wheel.
 9. Theapparatus claim 1, wherein the device for rotating the plurality ofcoating places on the conveyor device moves the plurality of coatingplaces into a loading position through rotation of the at least onecoating station so that the plurality of coating places can be loadedwith the plurality of substrates.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe device for rotating the at least one coating station on the conveyormoves the plurality of coating places into a removal position byrotation of the at least one coating station so that the plurality ofsubstrates can be removed from the plurality of coating places.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising a plasma coating device forcoating the plurality of substrates with plasma.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the plasma coating device generates electromagneticwaves.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the plasma coating deviceintroduce a process gas.
 14. The apparatus claims 1, wherein theevacuation device comprises a plurality of pump stages.
 15. Theapparatus claim 1, wherein the evacuation device sequentially connectsthe at least one coating station to a plurality of pump stages.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of coating places have atleast one receptacle for the plurality of substrates in the form of aplurality of hollow bodies.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein theevacuation device separately evacuates an interior of each of theplurality of hollow bodies.
 18. The apparatus of claim 16, furthercomprising a device for separately feeding a process gas into aninterior of each of the plurality of hollow bodies.
 19. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one coating station comprises a reactorwith a moveable sleeve part and a substrate carrier with at least onesealed coating chamber, the at least one sealed coating chamber beingdefined between the moveable sleeve part and the substrate carrier in aposition in which the moveable sleeve part and the substrate carrierbutt against one another.
 20. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising at least one lifting device for opening and closing the atleast one coating station, the at least one lifting device beingselected from the group consisting of a pneumatic lifting device, ahydraulic lifting device, and an electrical lifting device.
 21. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one mechanical controlcam for opening and closing the at least one coating station.
 22. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising a PVD coating device for thePVD coating of the plurality of substrates.
 23. A process for the vacuumcoating of a plurality substrates, comprising the steps of: loading acoating station having a number of coating places with a number of theplurality of substrates that are to be coated; evacuating the coatingstation; conveying the coating station on a conveyor device; vacuumcoating the plurality of substrates; venting the coating station; andremoving the number of coated substrates, wherein the plurality ofcoating places are rotated on the conveyor device.
 24. The process ofclaim 23, wherein the coating station is conveyed on a conveyor carouselor a linear conveyor device.
 25. The process of claim 23, wherein thecoating station is conveyed on a conveyor carousel having an axis ofrotation, and wherein the plurality of coating places each have an axisof rotation that is parallel to the axis of rotation of the conveyorcarousel.
 26. The process of claim 23, wherein the loading of thecoating station with the number of substrates that are to be coated iseffected by an allocation of a plurality of wheels of a loading device.27. The process of claim 23, wherein the plurality of coating places aresuccessively moved into a plurality of loading positions.
 28. Theprocess of claim 23, wherein the plurality of coating places aresuccessively moved into a plurality of removal positions.
 29. Theprocess of claim 27, wherein the rotation of the plurality of coatingplaces comprises the rotation of a substrate carrier.
 30. The process ofclaim 29, further comprising bringing together a base plate having aplurality of supply passages with the substrate carrier so that aconnection to the evacuation device or to a supply of process gas isproduced.
 31. The process of claim 30, wherein the substrate carrier hasa plurality of through-passages connecting a side of the substratecarrier facing the plurality of coating places to an opposite side ofthe substrate carrier, and wherein the plurality of through-passagesconnected to the plurality of supply passages positioned in the baseplate when the base plate is brought together with the substratecarrier.
 32. The process of claim 23, wherein the step of vacuum coatingof the plurality of substrates comprises plasma coating.
 33. The processof claim 32, further comprising generating a plurality of plasmaelectromagnetic waves, and feeding the plurality of plasmaelectromagnetic waves to the plurality of coating places.
 34. Theprocess of claim 33, wherein the plurality of plasma electromagneticwaves are pulsed.
 35. The process of claims 23, wherein the step ofevacuating the coating station is carried out in a plurality of stages.36. The process of claim 23, wherein the plurality of substrates are inthe form of a plurality of hollow bodies, and wherein the processfurther comprises separately evacuating an interior of each of theplurality of hollow bodies.
 37. The process of claims 36, furthercomprising feeding process gas separately into the interior of each ofthe plurality of hollow bodies.
 38. The process of claim 37, furthercomprising introducing a plurality of electromagnetic waves into thecoating station to ignite a plasma in the interior of each of theplurality of hollow bodies to internally coat the plurality ofsubstrates.
 39. The process of claim 23, wherein the step of vacuumcoating the plurality of substrates comprises PVD coating of theplurality of substrates.
 40. The process of claim 23, wherein the stepof removing the number of coated substrates is effected by an allocationof a plurality of wheels of a unloading device.